Instead of a usual setup of a couple with romance, a twist where she would be infatuated with Sonic yet he would return no such emotion instead seeing her rescue as another task was derived avoiding a well used kidnapping and rescue scenario. Robotnik.Īmy Rose was based on an existing character from the Sonic The Hedgehog Manga. Ohshima also wanted to expand the cast of characters and have an enemy that was on par with Dr. It was part of the efforts to make this game different. Hiroyuki Kawaguchi became the art director and wanted to make each zone visually stunning that had not yet been seen the franchise. However, programming this instantaneous change in environment proved to be unattainable and not without great effort with comments relating to programming difficulties (apparently the game uses a modified version of the original Sonic The Hedgehog programmed by Yuji Naka) and capability of the hardware, thus the sequence of Sonic trailed by stars against a fuzzy green backdrop masks the loading/processing required as Sonic moves from one timeframe to the next. Oshima believed that zones where Sonic was suddenly changing around him would be unique and mesmerizing. Whist the Time Travel element had been floated as a potential element in both games, the Sonic 2 team/STI decided against and Sonic CD take shape from here.
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SEGA gave a free reign of development to Naoto Ohsima as Director and pressure from the company was directed more to STI whom had moved to San Francisco prior.Įarly the development some cross-discussion took place between him and STI/Sonic 2 Team about what their respective games were about. The potential of a Sonic game running on more powerful hardware created hype for the game before any screenshots actually appeared and thankfully, it was decided that an entirely new game was to be created that would take advantage of SEGA's new kit. Others remained hopeful that SEGA of Japan's coders (SOJ) would create the ultimate in Sonic entertainment. This was a common practice in the gaming press of the time especially where Sonic games were concerned.
There was good reason for this as one main reason the Mega-CD/SEGA-CD was faltering was for its collection of "hand-me-down" titles: ergo slightly enhanced cartridge games. Enhancements meaning an animated introduction and CD audio (Redbook).
It was assumed that the game could be an enhanced version of the original Sonic The Hedgehog or of the upcoming Sonic 2. There was no actual details on the game but speculation grew since Sonic 2 for SEGA's other platforms were known to be in development and the press attention these games were getting was intense. The announcement of development came in the gaming press in early 1992. SEGA's Mega-CD/SEGA-CD Addon Announcement It should be noted that the advent of Sonic CD also set a precedent which would come into play on SEGA's next platforms: the 32X and the Saturn, but that's another story. It was a logical step for SEGA to being their hottest property to this new technology/platform. SEGA's Mega-CD/SEGA-CD system has been released to a luke warm reception and was showing signs of falter. Sonic The Hedgehog and its sequel had become one of the hottest properties in gaming was selling cartridges on the Mega Drive/Genesis by the bucket load with Sonic 2 becoming one of the best selling 16-Bit games of all time. That said however, as a standalone game, it is easily the best platformer on the system and hailed for its soundtracks being some of the best known created and possibly because they were so divisive should create a place for it in any retro collection. Examples are that animals are not released but instead flowers, and the exclusion from the recently introduced Tails was another disconnection from the Sonic norm. The game was headed by Sonic's character designer Naoto Ohshima and it offered a slightly different vibe. This is for two reasons: it was released on a system that never became popular was perhaps moreover, not developed by SEGA Technical Institute (STI) or Sonic Team (though some members had involvement) whom by now had established a style. In relation to the other Sonic games of the 16-Bit era, Sonic CD was perceived more of a cult game as it fell somewhere outside of the Sonic lineage established by Yuji Naka.